An anonymous six-figure donation will provide funds to support vulnerable students, the supervision and research of teachers, and students in the WELCOME program.
A donation of $146,500 to the Colin Powell School for Civic and Global Leadership at the City College of New York will establish three funds to support the school’s most vulnerable students and to promote faculty supervision of student research.
The donor, who prefers to remain anonymous, is a longtime professor at the Colin Powell School who is impressed by the school’s mission and its success in supporting underserved students.
For the 2024–25 pilot academic year, the gift consists of three elements: the $50,000 Precarious Student Support Fund to provide grants to students in economic distress, including undocumented students who are ineligible for other forms of support; the $72,000 Faculty/Student Support Fund to support early career faculty and students working together on research; and the $24,000 WELCOME Program Student Support Fund to support certain students participating in the US Department of Education-funded WELCOME program at CCNY.
The Precarious Student Support Fund provides scholarships of up to $5,000 to qualified Colin Powell School students. To help these students focus on and complete their education, these scholarships cover all education-related expenses, including the student’s annual tuition and fees or any additional uncovered education-related expenses such as books, transportation, room and board. Preference is given to undocumented students and/or Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals recipients.
The Faculty/Student Support Fund funds five junior faculty and their graduate students. Faculty and students jointly submit a research proposal; the faculty member is then selected as a research mentor. Over the course of a year, each Fellow supervises and supports between one and three undergraduate and/or graduate students who conduct their own research projects and/or participate in faculty research.
Faculty Fellows receive a stipend of $5,000 and can award $2,500 to each student they mentor. Up to an additional $2,000 per project is available for materials, equipment, or to support presentation of research at conferences. This program is overseen by the Colin Powell School’s Office of Student Success.
The WELCOME Program Student Support Fund provides financial assistance up to a maximum of $500 per student. This is available to students who are selected to participate in the new WELCOME Program for freshmen but are not eligible to receive direct financial aid from the scholarship, including WELCOME Program participants who are not U.S. citizens. This assistance is overseen by Andrew Rich, the Richard J. Henley and Susan L. Davis Dean of the Colin Powell School.
“This donation is extraordinarily well thought out and provides direct support in some of the places at the Colin Powell School where it is most needed. It reflects the generosity of a faculty member who knows our students well and believes deeply in our mission,” said Dean Rich. “My sincere thanks for this visionary and absolutely necessary support.”
“As a long-time member of the CCNY faculty and as a descendant of two CUNY graduates, one of whom was a refugee from World War II Europe, I find inspiration in the words of Dr. Horace Webster, the first president of the Free Academy, the forerunner of CCNY: “‘The experiment shall be made whether the children of the people, the children of the whole people, can be educated,'” said the donor. “I have seen it happen! With this donation, I hope to ensure that both the weakest and the most gifted students Access Support and greater opportunities for Excellence.”
